One-quarter of Minnesota households with children are food insecure
Feeding America and Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank host Hungry to Help Lesson Plan for students at an Ohio elementary school on May 24, 2017, in Fairlawn, Ohio. Photo byfor Feeding America.
One-quarter of Minnesota households with children are food insecure, according to research released Wednesday by the nonprofit hunger relief organization Second Harvest Heartland.
The food bank's first-ever statewide survey, conducted in collaboration with Wilder Research, found that overall 19% of Minnesota households are food insecure. The majority of food insecure families are able to eat enough with the help of emergency food assistance, which includes both food shelves and government nutrition programs like SNAP.
Five percent of Minnesota households don't get enough to eat, even with the help of emergency food assistance. Two percent of households don't have enough food, and don't receive any help.
Minnesota food banks have yet to release the final tally of food shelf visits in 2024, but the number has climbed in recent years. In 2023, food shelves recorded 7.5 million visits, a historic high.
Hunger relief organizations want additional funding from the state this year to address the growing use of food shelves, but money is tight — lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz are looking for ways to cut costs to avoid a looming deficit.
'Hunger doesn't discriminate by political party or geography, and addressing it head-on should be something that both parties can rally behind next year and in the years ahead. The growth in demand we are experiencing is unsustainable,' Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O'Toole said in November in response to the state budget and economic forecast.
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